The first shots starting the revolution were fired at
Lexington, Massachusetts. On April 18, 1775, British General
Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the
colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just outside of
Boston. They also planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John
Hancock, two of the key leaders of the patriot movement.

Church Steeple where Paul Revere hung
lanterns warning colonists the British were coming
(Source: Library of Congress)

Dr. Joseph Warren learned of
the British plans and sent Paul Revere to alert John
Hancock and Samuel Adams. Paul Revere promised to warn
them when the British soldiers started to march. Since he
wasn't sure that he would be able to get out of Boston
with the message, he made plans to alert people by
putting lanterns in the Old North Church steeple. He
would light one lantern if the British were coming by
land, and two lanterns if the British were coming by sea.

On
the evening of April 18th, the British troops were
ferried across the Boston Harbor to start their march on
Lexington. Paul Revere hung two lanterns in the church
steeple. Then Paul Revere, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel
Prescott rode to warn the colonists that the British were
coming.

Paul Revere rode to Lexington and alerted Samual Adams
and John Hancock. By the time the British soldiers
reached Lexington, Samual Adams and John Hancock had
escaped.

The colonists had been
expecting a fight with the British. They had organized a
group of militia, called the Minutemen. They were called
Minutemen because they needed to be prepared to fight on
a minutes notice.

When the British soldiers reached
Lexington, Captain Jonas Parker and 75 armed Minutemen
were there to meet them. The Minutemen were greatly
outnumbered. The British soldiers fired, killing 8
Minutemen and injuring 10 others.

Although Paul Revere was captured by British scouts
before reaching Concord, other messengers managed to get
through and warn the people. While the British soldiers
continued on their way to Concord, the men and women of
Concord were busy moving the arms and ammunition to new
hiding places in surrounding towns. When the soldiers
arrived they were only able to destroy part of the
supplies.

Minutemen from nearby towns
were now responding to the messengers' warnings. The
smoke from the burning supplies was also attracting local
farmers and townspeople. A large force of patriots was
now gathered in response to the British troops.

As the
British soldiers headed back to Boston, they were
attacked by the Minutemen. All along the route,
Minutemen, local farmers and townspeople continued the
attack against the British. By the time the soldiers
reached Boston, 73 British solders were dead and 174 more
were wounded.

In the days fighting, 49 patriots were killed, and 39
more were wounded.